Which colleges have the "gunners" in their pre-med classes?

kristin5792
Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:21:18 +0000

Hi mom2!

Since you seemed interested in my experience, here ya go:

As classmates, gunners are the kids I simply choose to ignore. They’re usually the ones who ask lots of unnecessary questions, rudely challenge profs, act like this class is a waste of their time/they already know everything, sit in the front row/loudly complain if they can’t, refuse to help other students, etc. I really can’t stand them! But I haven’t heard of them doing some of the underhanded things in above posts. Maybe it’s because I go to a run of the mill state school in the midwest–it doesn’t “feel” very competitive (it just, nonetheless, attracts some competitive kids).

And here’s the kicker: profs know who they are, and profs don’t like them either! I’m pretty tight with 3 of my professors–honors orgo, animal physiology, and a discussion group class about health care policy in the US. Honors orgo guy warns the gunners–he has his own term for them, I don’t remember it–that this isn’t the typical class, they can’t expect high grades, he doesn’t allow you to argue points, etc. Typically at least 3 get up and walk out right there (in a class of 30, that’s significant)–and most don’t last through the entire year (switch to regular orgo at semester). Physiology prof gets them back for being jerks in the classroom by refusing to write recommendation letters for them–and rec letters from him are highly coveted by premeds at my school (he’s a very well-respected prof around here). You get the idea–it’s interesting to me that the “good guy” (the non-gunners but good students) almost always “wins” (gets higher grades, great rec letter, etc) out over the gunners in these two hot topic premed classes because the profs are in tune with what these slimy characters do.

As far as the gunners go, I notice them a LOT more in lower level, premed prereq classes–their presence was felt much more during freshman year and sophomore year than in my later years. Perhaps that’s because the later years are full of electives, and I chose academically challenging courses since I decided that my worth as a student shouldn’t be defined by 4 numbers on a piece of paper (GPA) and who cares what grades I get as long as I’m enjoying myself and learning a ton.

In a premed prereq class of 600 students (not all premeds, but some), I’d say there were 30-40 gunners. In that honors orgo class (infamously known to be the most challenging undergraduate science course at my school), maybe 3-4 out of 25. Animal physiology, maybe 15 out of about 100. Upper level bio electives, 1-2 out of 30ish. The remainders are a variety of students–from those who love learning and want to be there and always participate to those who really just don’t care and want to get out of class ASAP because it’s time to tap the keg.

My best advice for dealing with the obnoxious premed gunners? Just ignore them, focus on learning and thriving, and it’s always worth your while to sincerely (read: not just for your own gain, or for a rec letter) get to know your professors!